Minnesota Students Play With Legendary Drummer For Talent Show At D.C.'s Kennedy Center

Lifelong professional musician and Universal Music Center Executive Director and Founder Mike Arturi (longtime member of rock band The Lovin' Spoonful known for hits including "Do You Believe in Magic" and "Summer in the City") will join students from Minnesota Turnaround Arts Schools for a special performance at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Arturi and the students will perform a hand drum and dance presentation as part of the Turnaround Arts Talent Show on Sunday, March 11 at 4 p.m.

The Turnaround Arts Talent Show brings together students, Turnaround Artist mentors, partners, and advocates from Hawai'i to Rhode Island to celebrate the transformation happening in Turnaround Arts schools. A "Love Train" music video produced in collaboration with Playing for Change, which stars more than 500 courageous students and 40 Turnaround Artists will premiere at the event. This is the third Turnaround Arts Talent Show, preceded by events hosted by former First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House in 2014 and 2016.

"It is a great honor to have the chance to work directly with Minnesota Turnaround Arts students and a humbling thrill to join them on the prestigious Kennedy Center stage to showcase their talent and progress," said Arturi. "I use hand drums and a drum circle experience in my in-school residency presentations as a 'Spark to Learning.' Through the use of simple drum circle facilitation techniques, students achieve short-term learning goal such as: gaining a sense of accomplishment, utilizing empathy and harmony, learning call and response skills and gaining an increased sense of self-worth."

Arturi is also publicly active in support of music and life quality through his Learn Music Learn Life presentation and facilitation of community, health and corporate Drum Circles in southeast Minnesota. He also works extensively in the community presenting his Complete Concert Creation course to At Risk, Underserved and Youth populations at Tower View High School, The Minnesota State Juvenile Correctional Facility, the Goodhue County Jail, the Red Wing Youth Outreach Group and the Red Wing YMCA and Turnaround Arts: MN.

Turnaround Arts is a national program of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, run in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts, local partners, and private foundations. The program infuses high-quality arts-based learning through the school day and beyond to support overall school reform efforts, boost academic achievement, and increase student engagement in schools facing some of the toughest educational challenges in the country.